After NBA Commissioner David Stern called his name, after he slipped a black Portland Trail Blazers cap on and smiled for the cameras, CJ McCollum ducked away from the Barclays Center stage and, once he had a free moment, peeked at his cellphone.

“I ... tried to find close family members and people of importance,” McCollum said, noting that he surfed through his horde of texts for the pertinent ones. “And he’s definitely at the top of the list — the point guard of the team I’m playing for. So he texted me and we exchanged a couple messages to each other. I look forward to getting out there and playing with him.”

In an unpredictable and eventful NBA draft that featured surprises from the very first selection, the Blazers did something that wasn’t really surprising at all, drafting McCollum, a 6-foot-3 guard from Lehigh, with the No. 10 overall pick. After scanning the trade market for weeks in pursuit of veteran a difference-maker, general manager Neil Olshey never could find the right blockbuster, so he snatched the best available player on his draft board when the Blazers went on the clock.

And for the second consecutive season, that player turned out to be a sharpshooting, playmaking, score-in-bunches guard from a mid-major college. The Blazers have had McCollum on their radar for years — last year the front office once braved a snowstorm in Bethlehem, Pa., to watch him play — and they fell in love with his easygoing demeanor, dynamic skill-set and potential.

“It was just a perfect fit,” Olshey said. “For a long time, we just didn’t feel like he was going to get to us at 10. And when he was, we were ecstatic.”

The players are regularly compared to each other, in part because of their small-school background, and in part because of their games. Both are scintillating shooters. Both exude leadership and confidence. Both are mid-major wonders who defied odds to become NBA lottery selections. With all of this in mind, McCollum reached out to Lillard several months ago on Twitter to strike up a friendship.

They exchanged numbers and agreed to keep in touch. When Lillard started carving up the NBA, McCollum leaned on him for advice and inspiration. “The better you play, the better I look, so keep killing it,” McCollum would say to Lillard, urging him to continue to represent for mid-major talent. McCollum finally met Lillard face-to-face at the NBA draft lottery in May and they have remained close throughout the predraft process.

“One of the biggest things he said is: ‘Be yourself. First and foremost, do what got you there,’” McCollum said. “‘Because this league will eat you up. It’s a man’s league.’ You hear that term very loosely, but they mean it. On and off the court, you have to hold yourself to a higher standard. Also, one of the things he told me was, ‘Don’t be content with just being drafted.’ And I’m not.”

McCollum first burst onto the national scene as a junior at Lehigh, when he recorded 30 points, six assists and six rebounds during an upset of Duke in the first round of the 2012 NCAA Tournament. He contemplated declaring for the NBA draft after that season — when he averaged 21.9 points, 6.5 rebounds and 3.5 assists per game — but elected to return to Lehigh and finish a degree in journalism.

But after a blistering start to his senior season, during which he averaged 23.9 points per game and shot 52 percent from three-point range, he suffered a season-ending setback. On Jan. 5, in his 12th game of the season, McCollum broke a bone in his left foot, signalling a depressing end to his college career. It was yet another reason for McCollum to turn to Lillard for guidance as Lillard had suffered a similar injury his during his junior season at Weber State.

But, like Lillard, the setback did not derail McCollum’s draft stock. His body of work was solid — he averaged 21.3 points and 6.3 rebounds, while shooting 38 percent from three-point range, over his 111-game college career — and he passed a gauntlet of medical tests at the NBA draft combine in May.

Blazers coach Terry Stotts said he envisions McCollum jumping into his rotation immediately, most likely in a sixth man role as a playmaking combo guard. But Stotts and Olshey also say they think McCollum can play alongside Lillard at shooting guard. The two could form a dynamic and multi-faceted twosome that would feature scoring, shooting and playmaking.

“It’s a lot of responsibility,” Stotts said. “What Damian did last year was extraordinary and he set the bar high. But I think CJ is certainly capable of coming in and — he’s certainly going to have growing pains along the way — but I think he’s talented enough, smart enough, that he’ll improve and he’ll learn the league and find out what works for him and what we need him to do.”

The Blazers did not make a blockbuster move Thursday — Olshey said the team “didn’t come close to making any substantial deals." But they think they took another step forward in their rebuilding process.

“He’s the whole package,” Olshey said of McCollum. “It’s very similar to (Lillard). The way he carries himself. He’s got command presence on the floor. He’s got incredible confidence. He can really make plays off the dribble, which is something that I think will make our offense a little bit more fluid. He’s another guy that really wanted to be here.”

Notes: In addition to McCollum, the Blazers drafted 7-foot Kansas center Jeff Withey (No. 39 overall), 6-10 forward Marko Todorovic of Montenegro (No. 45) and traded 2015 and 2016 second-round picks to Cleveland for the draft rights to 6-6 Cal guard Allen Crabbe, the Pac-12 Player of the Year. They also traded the draft rights to Arizona's Grant Jerrett to the Oklahoma City Thunder for cash considerations.